- The Editor
Dean Kemph Round Two on Hoboken Mayoral Candidates:
Well, I can't really keep up with the emails, so I'll summarize it for you. The response to my email was pretty much what I thought it would be, only more so. Uncommitted voters I heard from agreed with my thoughts, overwhelmingly. In fact, that's not surprising, as those comments were really kind of a reflection of what many people have obviously been thinking, but not as bluntly voicing. Dave Roberts was always mad at me not so much for my own opinion, but the fact that I voiced so candidly to him what he feared that a lot of the uptown community was thinking.
People immersed in Beth and Dawn's campaigns were frustrated and annoyed. Some agreed with my contentions about the other candidates, but not their own. Some agreed, in varying degrees, about my contentions with respect to their own candidates, but argued that they were the lesser of evils, and that an endorsement of Tom Vincent was wasted time. Some thought I was out of touch.
Only one that I know of went public, and that was Theresa Minutullo. She's an avid Dawn supporter. Apparently, I made her pull out her hair. She felt I didn't support my contentions. Since she went public, I'll do that now. The deposition WAS embarrassing, Theresa. Use of lottery tickets to entice senior votes was old-school 4th ward campaigning and really unseemly. If Dawn didn't know better, Michael Lenz, who introduced the Amato's to the campaign, certainly should have. The absentee voter shenanigans were embarrassing. A sitting councilperson stepping down rather than defending her campaign ethics in court was embarrassing, regardless of the contrived "will of the people" rationalizations. As to Dawn's control over her own campaign, she didn't know what her campaign committee's name was, didn't know if Andrew Amato was paid, acknowledged that Flo Amato was (sorry Theresa), didn't know the basis of decision-making for captains who hired workers, didn't know how volunteers were recruited, didn't know the protocol in determining which workers were paid, didn't know what a bunch of the primary workers in her campaign did, didn't know if services were paid for by organizations other than her campaign, didn't know what the HCDO's involvement in her campaign was, DID know that there were a lot of guys named Glen around but didn't know what any of them did, I could go on and on. It's all in the deposition. Bear in mind that this wasn't even a city-wide election, this was a SINGLE WARD ELECTION in which she received less than 900 votes. With a platform heavy on governmental accountability, it's unimaginable that she could not have had (or demanded) more awareness. If you've got any strands left Theresa, go for them now.
The schism in the reform movement which I mentioned, (which Theresa denies but everyone else in town, including Dawn's other allies, acknowledges) is childish and certainly counter-productive to Hobokenites, who care a hell of a lot more about responsible government spending and reduced taxes than which county political organization is getting the biggest sniff of City Hall. Sometimes being too far into the loop is more of an impediment to vision than being a little out of it. But here's a quick summary: Most of the people in Beth and Dawn's campaigns were allies at one time (for example, the Marsh mayoral campaign). Beth wanted to clear out what she perceived as the old political deadwood in town and establish a new reform order with herself as the titular head. She didn't do it with a lot of finesse or diplomacy, and she shrugged while her operatives did it with an insulting recklessness. This understandably greatly annoyed the gnarled branches of said deadwood, which included Marsh, Lenz, and Soares; whose subsequent hissy fit collided in an unsuccessful reconciliation attempt with Beth's legendary intransigence before exploding into the schoolyard free-for-all you see before you today. Two camps with enough common interest to be natural allies who may both realize their far more unsettling fear of a back-door entry by Peter "I'm not Dave Roberts - 'cause he's not popular any more" Cammarano. Gee, which one of these should I endorse again?
While acknowledging my own impulsivity, I DID talk to people in both Dawn and Beth's camps before launching. I couldn't get much in the way of admission of any missteps. I was presented with ringing and unwavering defenses of tactics and alliances they would have decried in the not-too-distant past. My parting gift in each case was a bucket of steaming vitriol with dumping instructions.
For the moment, I'll stick with my unrealistic endorsement of the as-yet untainted Tom Vincent. I'll stick with my assessment of Raul "He's such a fine young man that he'd be on the ticket if his name was Raul Smith" Morales, Jr. as the most transparently pandering and hypocritical choice of an at-large candidate in my Hoboken memory. (By the way, watching him read from a sheet the generic prepared answers during the Council debate may have provided the most surreal debate moments since Ed Shirak's "Parking! Parking! Why do I always get the parking question?!" outburst in 1993.) I'll clarify my great respect for the characters, good works, and noble intentions of Carol Marsh, and, in the opposite corner, Ines Garcia Keim, despite my questioning some of their current judgments. And, a final word for the quickly balding Theresa, I also admire your hard work. I forgive your stridency, as I know that you've been fighting an uphill battle for a long time. I supported you because I thought you were the best choice, and I'd support you again. But even my most vocal critics have acknowledged that I have no political motivation. So, as to your laughable inference that I do, your credibility is probably not enhanced by such a cheaply convenient and hackneyed attempt to dismiss criticism. Just a thought.
Best of Luck again, Hoboken!
Dean
For reference, here is Dean Kemph's original letter/email:
http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2009/05/dean-kemph-endorses-tom-vincent-for.html
And here is Theresa Minutillo's rebuttal:
http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2009/05/theresa-minutillo-responds-to-dean.html
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